Dianne Williams Wilburn—Creating her own destiny

Having monitored environmental compliance for New Mexico State and analyzed water chemistry for a nuclear power plant in Virginia, Wilburn is well versed in environmental health and radiation safety.

March 11, 2014

Having monitored environmental compliance for New Mexico State and analyzed water chemistry for a nuclear power plant in Virginia, Wilburn is well versed in environmental health and radiation safety.

Wilburn says, “I like to think one of my character traits is to help people get their job done. I like helping people understand the environmental and safety requirements and how they can meet those requirements and still get the job done, be an enabler as opposed to an obstructionist.”

Creating her own destiny

Dianne Williams Wilburn does not have an ounce of pretension or narcissism. Nominated by multiple Los Alamos colleagues as an inspirational woman, the always-smiling Wilburn deflects attention.

When asked about challenges she has overcome or how courage has touched her life, she does not mention the fact that she recently battled breast cancer.

Instead, she focuses on the positive, focuses on the achievements of others.

Choosing the right thing—even if it is difficult

The biochemist tells her sons “to be, rather than to seem,” the motto of her home state, North Carolina, where she was raised in the Appalachian Mountains.

Wilburn is inspired by women dedicated to learning and to creating their own destinies (such as Madeleine Albright, the former Secretary of State who decided to enter politics when she was nearly 50). Like Albright, Wilburn obtained her graduate degree, a master’s in environmental science, well into adulthood.

Having monitored environmental compliance for New Mexico State and analyzed water chemistry for a nuclear power plant in Virginia, Wilburn is well versed in environmental health and radiation safety.

She is a glovebox safety manager at the Lab, where she has also managed protection of air quality, endangered species and historic sites on the Lab’s 36 square miles. She’s mentored more than a dozen students and served as a manager at different levels.

Helping others get the job done

Lauded for always helping others, Wilburn says, “I like to think one of my character traits is to help people get their job done. I like helping people understand the environmental and safety requirements and how they can meet those requirements and still get the job done, be an enabler as opposed to an obstructionist.”

Wilburn recalls how her former group leader Jean Dewart handled a really tough question before a group with strength and dignity. Later, when she became group leader, speaking before the same group, asked the same tough question, Wilburn says she just channeled Jean.

A strong support network leads to success

To succeed, she advises young women to seek a mentor to teach them the ropes, to guide them to opportunities and to give advice. As far as balancing family with career, Wilburn says, “there is no one right way to balance things; you have to figure out what works for you.” Find support in all kinds of relationships, and nurture them.

Often seen driving down the highway in her old pickup truck, hauling chickens or ducks or her son’s dairy goats, Wilburn volunteers for many youth organizations, including Boy Scouts of America and 4-H.

June, 2 2014 - From the end of March into early May, Keller and the Laboratory’s other wildlife biologists monitor the Mexican Spotted Owl’s population size and locations and record noteworthy changes.

October, 22 2014 - Angelo (A.J.) Herrera, by day a financial analyst in the Laboratory's Chief Financial Officer Division, was part of the U.S. Youth National Soccer Team from 1996 to 2000, including the Youth Olympics in Moscow, and today coaches soccer in his spare time.

September, 23 2014 - As soon as Darleen Vigil comes home from a hard day’s work as a vendor liaison specialist in the Laboratory’s Network and Infrastructure Engineering Division, she heads into her garden to tend to her vegetables.

September, 9 2014 - Ron Barber, a mechanical engineer in the Laboratory’s Accelerator Operations and Technology Division, combines his love of nature and open spaces with a personal interest in researching the astronomical knowledge of long-ago civilizations that once inhabited the American Southwest.

June, 2 2014 - Monika Bittman has wanted to be an artist ever since she was a little girl in Prague, Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic. Today Bittman applies her creative eye and attention to detail in her work as a web designer at the Laboratory.

August, 26 2014 - Michael Torrez, by day a research technologist in the Laboratory's Materials Physics and Applications Division, spends much of his free time researching New Mexico's family histories.

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